The Investigative Committee raided linguist Vano Yeghiazarian’s Yerevan apartment and confiscated his computer and mobile phone in early December. The law-enforcement agency went on to interrogate two other experts contacted by Karapetian’s lawyers to assess a statement that landed the tycoon in prison.
One of them, Narine Dilbarian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service afterwards that the investigators pressured her to say that her testimony was “directed” by the defense lawyers. Dilbarian said she denied any such influence. She insisted that Karapetian did not call for any action when he denounced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s campaign against the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and vowed to defend it “in our way.”
Karapetian’s statement provoked a series of furious social media posts by Pashinian, who pledged to “deactivate” the tycoon. The latter was arrested and charged with calling for a violent overthrow of the government just hours later.
The search at Yeghiazarian’s apartment was sanctioned by a court of first instance. Acting on the linguist’s appeal, the Court of Appeals ruled this week that the search warrant was illegal and baseless.
Yeghiazarian’s lawyer, Ruben Hakobian, said on Thursday that the higher court thus exposed what he described as one of the numerous violations of the due process committed by the Investigative Committee during the continuing probe. He claimed that the investigators tried to intimidate his client and the two other experts.
“We are not surprised by such violations anymore,” Hakobian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Karapetian was also charged with tax evasion, fraud and money laundering in July after deciding to set up a new opposition group that will run in Armenia’s parliamentary elections due in June 2026. The 60-year-old tycoon was moved to house arrest against prosecutors’ wishes late last month.